Venezuela's 2024 presidential election: What to know

Why are these elections important?

The outcome of the Venezuelan presidential elections, which will be held on July 28, will have important consequences for the future of the country's democracy, as well as for the more than seven million Venezuelans who have fled the country and contributed to the wave of migration into the country. United States.

For the past 25 years, the Venezuelan government has been controlled by Chavismo, the socialist movement that began with the democratic election of Hugo Chávez in 1998 and has since become more authoritarian. When Chávez died in 2013, his protégé Nicolás Maduro narrowly won the presidency.

Venezuela's economy imploded nearly a decade ago, resulting in one of the largest displacements of people in Latin American history. The flow of Venezuelans and other migrants to the United States has become a dominant theme in the US presidential campaign.

This is the first Venezuelan election in more than a decade in which an opposition candidate has a reasonable – if slim and unlikely – chance of winning.

Also at stake is the future of Venezuela's oil reserves, the largest in the world; the continued strength of the country's alliances with China, Russia and Iran; and the trajectory of a domestic humanitarian crisis that has plunged a once-prosperous nation into immense suffering.

Will the elections be free and fair?

It is already clear that the elections will not be entirely free and fair.

Maduro, 61, controls parliament, the army, the police, the judiciary, the national electoral council, the country's budget and much of the media, not to mention violent paramilitary gangs called colectivos.

Since January, the Maduro government has arrested and jailed 10 opposition members. Five others have an arrest warrant and are hiding in the Argentine embassy in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.

A proposal in parliament would allow the government to suspend the opposition's campaign at any time. Many Venezuelans live abroad they were unable register to vote due to expensive and cumbersome requirements.

And even if a majority of voters voted against Maduro, there is widespread doubt that he would allow the results to become public – or that he would accept them if they did.

If Maduro were to give up power, it would almost certainly be the result of a negotiated exit deal with the opposition in which he would likely seek protection from trial in an international court on charges of crimes against humanity.

Does Maduro face any serious challengers?

Despite all the obstacles the government placed to prevent credible elections, it allowed a former diplomat, Edmundo González, to register as a candidate representing a coalition of opposition parties. González became the opposition's surprise consensus candidate after its popular leader, María Corina Machado, was barred from running by Maduro's government.

In a joint interview, González said he was “taken by surprise” when Maduro allowed him to register as a candidate, and still had no clear explanation why.

While González, 74, was unknown to most Venezuelans until recently, Ms. Machado's support for his candidacy makes him a viable challenger. Ms. Machado, 56, a hugely popular former lawmaker, rallied voters on her behalf at events across the country, where she was greeted like a rock star. filling city blocks with people make emotional pleas for her to save the country.

There are other candidates on the ballot, but they are not seen as serious contenders.

What are the main issues?

The most important thing for most Venezuelans is simply to have a legitimate chance to vote to bring down the current Chavista government.

Polls show that about two-thirds of the country opposes Chavismo and is likely to support any candidate who can challenge Maduro, who they blame for the country's economic collapse.

Venezuela's economy went into free fall about a decade ago due to mismanagement of the oil sector, a crisis exacerbated by tough sanctions imposed by the United States in 2019. Soaring inflation has eroded wages and savings.

For years, Venezuelans have continued to scrape by, trying to feed their children on meager earnings, watching family members die of preventable diseases and waiting hours in lines for gas.

The country saw crowds of adults rummaging through bins for discarded food, long lines for basic supplies, soldiers stationed outside bakeries and angry mobs looting grocery stores. Emergency rooms have been overwhelmed with children suffering from severe malnutrition and infants suffering from dehydration due to shortages of formula.

The Maduro government and its base, about a third of the country, according to polls, blame the country's misfortunes on foreign adversaries, particularly the United States, which they say is waging economic war against Venezuela.

Reuniting families separated by migration has also emerged as an important issue given the huge number of Venezuelans who have left.

When will the results be known?

The country's electoral authority has not announced details of this year's vote, but in Venezuela polls generally open at 6 a.m. and close at 6 p.m., and results are known around 2 a.m. the next day.